Knitting machine



July 16, 1935. H. N. SHEPPARD 2,008,599

KNITTING MACHINE Original Filed Sept. 8, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR HARRY N. SHEPPARD BY HIS ATTORNEYS .Fufiy 16, 1935. H. N. SHEPPARD I 2 2,008,599

KNITTING MACHINE Original Filed Sept. 8, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I, -h- INVENTOR HARRY N. SHEPPARD BY HIS ATTORNEYS Patented July 16, 1935 UNITED STATES KNITTING E.

Harry Sheppard, Maplewood, N. J assignor to Scott & Williams, Incorporated, New; York, N. Y., a corporation of Massachusetts Original application September 8, 1932, Serial N 0.

632,213. Divided and this application September 72, 1933, Serial No. 688,014.

Britain May 11 1933' In Great 8 Claims. (Cl. 66- -48) This invention relates to a machine for the manufacture of seamless stockings and more particularly to a machine adapted to make an improved heel structure in the stocking.

5 This application is a division of my application Serial No. 632,213,- filed September 8,1932, which issuedas Patent No. 1,932,292 Oct. 24, 1-933,

in which I claim the improved stocking and the 'method of making it. In that improved 7 stocking the heelpocket is formed of a narrowed formed in a novel manner and the subsequent knitting of the sole being altered slightly to conform thereto. In a stocking having this improved 15 heel structure the number of courses in the herrowed segment is increased over the number ordinarily found in the narrowed segment of a seamless heel or toe pocket without increasing the number of needles involvedin the making of 2 the segment. This changes the shape of the heel by increasing the angle of the narrowedsegment at the corner of the heel, so that the necessity for the widened segment is done away with. Byincreasingthe number of courses in the narrowed needles on which it is made, the heel is made compact and solid and, in fact, the congestion of segment at the corner of the heel, the suture line of the heel is practically vertical where it is subjectto very much less strain than if it were di- 49 rected toward the point of the heel. The angle formed between the suture line and the direction of the wales in the narrowed segment, combined with the increasednumber of courses in the nar- 4 rowed segment, causes the fabric to pucker where courses'in the heel than wales in the sole. In 5 order to avoidpuc kering alongthesuture line, it is therefore proposedto slacken some stitches thesole, the preferred form being the slackene ing of all the stitches along the suture line for one to four courses inlthe. sole adjacent-the suture.

55 Thereis noneed to electron the first few courses 1 segment I [0 only, that segment preferably beingj segment without increasing the number of a reduced. slightly. Furthermore it should be noted that owing to the increased angle formed by the s the narrowed segment is joined, to the sole. In, this connection, it. is, necessary to join together an. unequal number of. courses, there. being more,

in the sole adjacent the bottom of the heel where there is-no suture line. 7 The increased number of courses in thenar rowed segment ll 0 I constituting the heel is pro duced by manipulation of special 'narrowin g I widening mechanism. As here shown and-dc? scribed, the narrowing is'conducted at theregua lar intervals and widening takesplaceintermit? tently. For this purpose the widening" picker is shaped and located in a novel manner? Byjthle 10 use of this special picker the number of courses which it takes to narrow the-usual or-requ'isite number of needles isincreasedto any desire'd'ex tent.

Referring now to the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic view-"of the outline 1% of a portion of a stocking showing a heel manu factured on a'machine in accordancewith my invention, the arrowheads on the dot and 'd' hf lines indicating the direction in which thekni-t' 0 ting is proceeding-and the courses being indicated I by the dot anddash lines? Fi 2 is a diagrammatic showing a of the ,il iltt5r;- j looping of the stitches along the suture line oif a'heel made in accordance with my invention; fth 25 particular interlooping shownin this figureflbe ing different from Fig. 1;

Fig, 3 is a. front elevationoof'suilicientfoi tlie'f ordinary well-knownScott &;Williams type of-re] volving needle cylinder hosierymachine-tdsho 1 mechanism for intermittently operating the hove W widening picker to: produce the-interloopingf'of" Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is-a plan view-fromthe underside of an] improved form of dropper or widening picker usedi 3 in the mechanism shown in Fig. 3, together withjfj its relation to the needle butts operated-thereby;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of a portion of the sinker}: cam cap with apivoted cam for pushing sinkers in selectively to'cause local slackening 0fth8 0 stitches after theheel is completed;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view'of someof the links on the mainpattern chain together with the pin? for interrupting the-operationyof the widening. picker, the-latterbeing shown in position to in terrupt the narrowing in the mechanism shown in Fig.3; while H Fig. '7 isra plan View similarto Fig; 4 of a medi fled-form of widening picker together withfits"re i lation to the needle butts operated thereby.

The manufacture of the stocking will be-de scribed-as ifit'were being carried out on the Scott & EWilliams machine shown anddescribed I in-thepatent to A. E. Page and Frank R; Page No. 1,841,205, dated January 12, 1932, modified as"65 "In the ordinary rlianufacture of the narrowed 1b segment ofaseamless heel or toe pocket, the active group of needles is shortened one needle at .each oscillation of a reciprocation. Thus, as an oscillation starts and before the active group of needles reaches the knitting cams, the leading needle meets a narrowing picker and is raised to idle position. On the oscillation in the opposite direction the other narrowing picker will raise the leading needle at the other end of the active group. By thus narrowing one needle on eachcourse in. the segment, the number of courses in the segment is kept equal to the number of. needles on which thesegment is knit, but this produces a segment which, at the corner li. of the heel where the point of the segment meets the instep, covers an arc of only about ,the

lower edge of the segment therefore when completed being at approximately the point I of the heel. Such a segment is, of course, of very little 5 ,use because it does not protect against the wear 30 which occurs on'the bottom ofthe heel at the po-' ment is made wider and extends underneath the foot a sufiicient distance without taking all the additional time necessary to knit a widened segt-; ,1

; In the preferred method of manufacture of. my heel as illustrated'in Fig. 2 the narrowingOperation of the machine is permitted to takeplace without interruption and the rate of. narrowing;

in the segment is varied by means of intermittent -use of the novel widening picker, According to this method, at intervals a needle which has been.

raised out of action by a narrowing picker isreturned into action by the novel widening picker 1, 680. It is found, that by varying the active seg-- 6 ment of needles in. this manner a particularly strong suture is obtained.

"Still referring to Fig. 2, the last circular course l0 before the heel, indicated by a heavy line at the top of thefigure, is knit. toward the left hand 5*" side of theheel as shown in the drawing, and the:

first reverse course, i. e., the course marked I2,,

is knit toward the right, as shown in this figure. The last needle to knit in this course is at the corner l of the heel, as defined near the opening 6*of the specification. As soon as the oscillation;

next course, i. e., the third course 25 in the reverse direction, the dropper or widening picker 68H comes-into action. On the oscillation in this m direction the needle knitting the wale 28 next. to; j the corner H which was raised out of action on theprevic iis course 25 before it reached the yarn in th'e "knitting cams, is now the leading needle 'of'the inactive segment following the active segment, and therefore meets the dropper or widening picker 633 and is pushed down into position as the last needle of the active group before it reaches the yarn of the cams. Therefore the loop left around the shank of the needle in the wale 28 next to the corner H whenthat needle was raised out of action at the beginning of course 25, is now knit as the stitch in course 25. The cycle just described is repeated throughout the fabric shown in Fig. 2 until the narrowed segment is completed, and the first complete circular course 22 after the knitting of the heel starts on, the side of the heel (not shown in the drawings) at the corner l l of that other side and as a continuation of the partial course 2! near the bottom of the heel. This first complete circular course 22 is indicated in Fig. 2 by a heavy line. 7 at a regular rate and using the widening picker intermittently, to vary the rate of narrowing by varying the intermittency of-the use of the dropper or widening picker. v

As already mentioned, it is desirable to'avoid puckering along the suture line R formed by course 25 made at the close of the heel, and thiscan be acccmplished by slackening the stitches along the suture. (The suture line is indicated by a heavy line B in Fig. l.) lvlechanism which can cause this local slackening is well known;

and reference is made to the Robert W. Scott Patent No. 1,189,220, dated June 27, 19l6, where "by using sinkers having diif erent heights of operating butts, certain sinkers can be pushed fur- 'ther in to cause slackening at any desired point Such slackening should- :in the circle of needles. be caused at the stitches along the suture on each .side of the heel. J

In Fig. 5 is shown means for slackening the stitches locally in the general manner of the Scott Patent 1,189,220, above identified, these :means consisting of a cam 38 in the'sinker cam' cap 3% adapted to press radially inwards sinkers having butts of the properheight, the lever 39 tending to press said pivoted cam 38 radially inward, and any suitable mechanism (not shown) may be provided for operating the lever- 39 or act 3 V 501 It is generally not necessary to slacken more ing directly on the cam 38.

than three or four courses. A mechanism suitable for operating the widen- :lng picker or dropper is shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 6, consisting of means actuated from lugs on the left side of the pattern chain to push the Widen-. .ing picker E585 into inoperative position during the making of the heel except when it is, desired to, slow down the rate of narrowing. The type of .lug for causing intermittent operation of the; widening picker is indicated in Figs. 3 and 6 by.

the reference character 89.

It will be noted that itis the absence or the lugs 86 which causes the widening picker to interrupt the narrowing of the segment in Fig. 2. As

shown in the drawings, the mechanism for op-,

erating the" widening picker 63!) consists of a bracket 232 on the stud 23% of the machine, identical with the bracket used with the mechaemerge T e 'exactiimW-m 0i .mav menti the widenin picker s d e m ned b a'sto ther tha b t h i ht o t e lu on t e t s eof t pa te ha n the st p thi in a ce bein a s e ve- 4-2fastened on othe er a od "inst b low uide p at 3 a tbei e m te B o the ma h n The sleeve :2 can be adjusted in proper position by means of a screw 44 therein and the sleeve has a pin 45 projecting. upwardly from one side of it through the guide plate 43, this pin 45 being long enough to stay in the hole in the bedplate when the vertical rod 40 is in its lowermost position. The function of this pin in the sleeve is to keep the vertical rod from turning, which would have the eifect of bringing its bent upper end out from under the bent tail 4| of the widening pick.

It will be noted that the lugs 80 on the chain (Fig. 6) occupy two-thirds of the length of each chain link, the widening picker 680 being ar-- ranged in such a manner that when the rod 40 is raised it is moved to inoperative position and therefore the absence of a lug at this portion of the chain link corresponds to the activity of the widening picker 689 which lengthens the narrowing of the segment of the fabric.

If desired, the rate of narrowing during the making of the segment may be altered from time to time, giving a diiferent shape and causing the suture line to bend in a different manner. Thus, for instance, the rate of narrowing may be changed twice, the first portion A (Fig. 1) being knit with one rate of narrowing and the next portion B being knit with a different rate of narrowing, and the portion C being knit with still a third rate of narrowing. The rate of narrowing may be increased or decreased as the knitting of the segment progresses. An example of the decreased rate of narrowing would be to make the portion A by interrupting the narrowing at every third reciprocation, making the portion B by interrupting the narrowing on every other reciprocation, and then making the portion C by allowing narrowing to proceed in the ordinary manner, narrowing at each end on each reciprocation.

In the fabric shown in Fig. 2 it will be noted that the widening picker returns only one needle to activity at a time. In the modern seamless hosiery machines, however, it is customary to make the widened segment of both the heels or toes by the so-called two down and one up method, this requiring that the widening picker lower two needles at a time. It therefore is necessary that the widening picker, when making a stocking according to my invention, be able to lower two needles at a time during the making of the widened segment of the toe, but only one needle at a time during the making of the narrowed segment which constitutes my improved heel.

In the machine shown in the Page Patent 1,841,205 above identified, the heel is manufactured on the short butt side of the circle of needles and the toe is manufactured on the long butt side. I therefore have devised a picker 680 which is shown in Fig. 4, adapted to perform all the operations required to make my heel and toe in the machine ,of that PagePatent 1,841,205. This picker fiat hasloverhangs or lips 81 .j 'n each side which are wide enough to take two needles but, as .shown in the drawings, the portions of those lips at the end of the pickerhavenotches ,682 therein which reducetheir width so that at vtheend. of the picker thelips .BBI 1. 16 wide enough to take only oneneedle eachlat a time. .,As shdwn in Fig. 4,;these notches in the ends of the lips 8-! are ,long enough s that the butts-0i theme- .dleson the short butt side of the needle circle, .e, on the needles which are activeduring the ,making" of the heel, will not projectfar enough from the needle cylinder to reach the .wideportiOnDf thelips. It therefore will .beYobviouslthat during the ma n o the heel th ri he will take only one needle at a time. On the other hand, during the making of the toe the needles which are to be picked back again into action have butts which are long enough to lie in the These notched lips can be availed of in making other seamless fabrics to vary any picking in any desired manner by the corresponding arrange-' ment of needle butt lengths. Thus the picker shown in the drawings can pick down one short butt, or one short butt and one long butt. Again, needles can be picked down one and two in alternation or if the Wide portion of the lip is wide enough to take three needles (see'Fig. 7), then it is possible to pick down a short or long butt needle, skip the next short butt needle and. take an adjacent long butt needle. The usual fashion marks can be placed in the foot if desired.

Many modifications of my invention which do not depart from the scope of my invention will occur to those skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. A'circular knitting machine having independent needles and operating butts of different lengths on said needles, in combination with a widening picker having a lip for lowering needles to operative position, notched to engage at least one needle and at the same time to engage or miss at least one of the succeeding needles according to whetherits butt is long or short.

2. A circular knitting machine having independent needles and operating butts of different lengths on said needles, in combination with a widening picker having a lip for lowering needles to operative position notched to engage the first needle butt and simultaneously to engage at least one adjacent butt if it is a long butt.

3. A circular knitting machine having independent needles and operating butts of different lengths, in combination with a widening picker having a lip for moving needles into operative position, said lip being notched to engage the first needle butt and to engage the second needle butt if long but to miss it if short.

4. A circular knitting machine having independent needles and operating butts of different lengths on said needles, in combination with a widening picker having a lip for moving needles into operative position so shaped as to engage the short butt needles one at a time irrespective of the arrangement of the needles or to engage a plurality of long butt needles at-one time.

5. A circular knitting machine having independent needles and operating butts of different lengths on said needles, in combination with a widening picker to pick needles into action, said widening picker having a lip thereon notched to pick Sim butt needlesinto was one at a time or a plurality of longer butt needles into action at the same time. i

.61 A'circular knitting machine having independent" needles with short' operating butts 'on to operative position notched to engage either short'buttneedles one at a time or a plurality of long butt needles at one time, said widening pickerbrihging down one short butt needle at a time infthe making of the heel and a'plurality of long butt needles at a'time in the making of the toe.

"'7. A circular knitting machine having independent needles and operating butts of diflerent 7 lengths on said needles, in combination with a widening picker having a lip' for lowering needles to operative position, notched to engage the first needle butt and simultaneously to engage whichever of the next two needles have long butts.

84A circular knitting machine having independent needles and operating butts of different HARRY' N. SHEPPARD. 

